CX888

OzsTravels Flights April 6, 20172004 Chateau Lynch Bages Grand Cru Classe, 2012 Wolf Blass White Label Cabernet Sauvignon, 2014 Leo Buring Leopold DW20, Cathay Pacific, CX888, Krug Grande Cuvee 2 Comments

The first leg of my holiday was on CX734, Singapore to Hong Kong, it was a standard economy flight, where nothing interesting happened, unlike my business trip of the previous day when we had a special guest in the economy cabin from Perth to Singapore of QF71. A blind gentleman had bought his very well-behaved seeing-eye yellow Labrador on board. For the entire 5 hour flight the dog never made a sound or moved from their spot in seat 4D-F. This was a first for me!

CX888

CX888, Hong Kong to Vancouver, was a totally different story to CX734. Firstly the Pier First Class Lounge is in a different league to the DNATA Lounge in Terminal 1 of Changi Airport. A great place to wait for a flight and enjoy a beverage or three (although I do prefer the Wing, you are right in the middle of aircraft operations and it has very different feel about it, will need to go back to HK and take a few photos).

Next up was the flight.

I was lucky enough to have accumulated enough points to be able to book a First Class seat for the 11 hour flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver. My seat was 1a. On some Cathay Pacific Boeing 777 aircraft there are 6 First Class seats, which are sort of between a seat and suite. For more

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Wine, Words & Wednesday, No. 119 — The Armchair Sommelier

OzsTravels Uncategorized March 30, 2017March 30, 2017 0 Comment

Today’s words come from Jack Stuart, retired winemaker at Silverado Vineyards in Napa Valley. I’m in the throes of my WSET Diploma studies, so these words resonated with me, and reminded me of something very important. The full quote, for reference (and Latin buffs) is this: Fine wine is food for the table; it’s meant to be […]

via Wine, Words & Wednesday, No. 119 — The Armchair Sommelier

Just had to post this, no truer words spoken!! Thanks to the Armchair Sommelier!

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21 Mar 2017: Rainbow

OzsTravels My Balcony March 21, 2017June 13, 2024My Balcony, Rainbow, Singapore 5 Comments

There was a decent storm in Singapore today and after it had passed my place it left a present, a rainbow.

This is the first rainbow I have seen from my balcony in the 3 years I have lived in my apartment.

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Adelaide Hills – Shaw + Smith

OzsTravels Australasia, Australia, Places, Wine, Wineries March 12, 2017July 6, 20242014 Shaw + Smith Pinot Noir, 2014 Shaw + Smith Shiraz, 2015 Shaw + Smith M3 Chardonnay, 2016 Shaw + Smith Riesling, 2016 Shaw + Smith Sauvignon Blanc 3 Comments

The second winery we visited on our Adelaide Hills Wine Tour was Shaw + Smith.

I had high hopes for this winery and was a bit disappointed. The tasting room is where the original restaurant was situated, it has a nice view out over the duck pond up to Mount Lofty.

My disappointment was the commercial nature of the tasting, the staff were helpful and knowledgeable, but the tasting was very impersonal and formulaic, which was the disappointing bit. The tasting was $12 per person and an accompanying cheese-plate was $6, so for $18 you get a decent taste of 5 wines paired with three cheeses. Our tasting line up was:

2016 Sauvignon Blanc, recommended cheese pairing was the Ashed Cherve by the Woodside Cheese Wrights
2016 Riesling, recommended cheese pairing was the Ashed Cherve by the Woodside Cheese Wrights
2015 M3 Chardonnay, recommended cheese pairing was the Triple Cream Brie by the Woodside Cheese Wrights
2014 Pinot Noir, recommended cheese pairing was the Mature Clothed Cheddar by Alexandrina Cheese
2104 Shiraz, recommended cheese pairing was the Mature Clothed Cheddar by Alexandrina Cheese

Whilst it was an “OK” tasting it was not great, no personality. I did not feel the inclination to buy anything, not sure if it was because nothing grabbed me, the commercial nature of the place or a combination of both, probably the latter. For more